Jidai Matsuri

The Jidai Matsuri is Heian Shrine's annual festival and Kyoto's own pageant of its history as the imperial capital. On 22 October, some two thousand participants dressed in meticulously researched costume walk from the Imperial Palace to the shrine in a procession arranged in reverse chronological order, beginning with the Meiji Restoration and working back through samurai, courtiers, warrior-monks and court ladies to the founding of the city in the eighth century. The costumes, armour and horse trappings are the real thing, made by Kyoto's traditional workshops, and the procession is as much a moving museum as a festival.

The procession leaves the Kenreimon Gate of the palace at 12:00 and reaches Heian Shrine around 14:30, following Karasuma, Oike and Sanjo. The palace grounds and Oike-dori fill with spectators, and paid seats are set up at the palace, along Oike and at the shrine. Sanjo-dori, nearer the shrine, tends to be quieter than Oike and gives a good view of the whole procession in the afternoon light. The festival is held whatever the day of the week; only rain postpones it, to 23 October.

The route is easy to reach from Marutamachi, Karasuma-Oike or Higashiyama stations on the subway. Because it falls in late October, the Jidai Matsuri coincides with the beginning of Kyoto's busiest season and hotels are expensive; the same evening, Kurama's fire festival draws crowds north of the city, so many visitors combine the two. Expect a stately, orderly parade rather than a raucous one, and around two hours of watching at any one spot.